The Alliance
by Ms.K216
Summary: I decided to take my favorite Hunger Games couples (Clato and Everlark) and see what kind of story I could create surrounding them. The two couples form and alliance because they think of each other as major competition, but will they eventually become friends? Pairings: Clove&Cato, Katniss&Peeta Rated M because it's THG.
1. Phase One: Enemies Closer

**A/N: This is set in the training arena, Peeta and Katniss are 'a thing' Clove and Cato are 'a thing'. **

**Clove POV:**

"Cato." I shook his shoulder trying to get him up. "Cato…" I shook my head and took the flower vase off his bedside table, pouring it over his head. "Get up!"

"Clove!?" Cato jumped up initially afraid, "What the hell is your problem!? I'm trying to sleep!" His fear giving way to anger.

"Yeah, well I needed to talk to you." I folded my arms across my chest. I'm sure my hair was a mess, and suddenly I felt self-conscious in the light-blue nightgown I'd decided to wear to bed.

"What's wrong?" Cato pulled me close to him and hugged me. "I'm sorry I yelled at you." I just shrugged and traced different patterns on his arm with the tips of my fingers.

"I want to form an alliance with Katniss and Peeta from District 12 instead of joining the Careers."

"What? Why?" Cato sat up, confusion clear on his face.

"I don't trust Glimmer." I paused to look up at him. "Or Marvel..." I added for good measure. In reality I simply didn't want Glimmer trying to steal Cato away from me. I didn't have much time left with him as it was.

"Okay… if that's what you want we can talk to them."

"There's more to the plan, stupid!"

"Okay…" Cato waited, wondering what I was up to this time, I smiled deviously.

"Katniss and Peeta are going to be real competition Cato. Katniss volunteered and Peeta looks like he can bust some heads with his muscles. The alliance is going to be like one of those 'keep your enemies closer' type deals. I have no intention of helping them."

"That's going to be dangerous."

"It'll work though if we do it right."

"You're right. Let's hope it goes well." Cato kissed me sweetly and helped me to my feet. "Go get ready for training, I'll see you during breakfast."

…

"You're Katniss right?" I asked walking up to Katniss towards the end of training.

"Yeah. Are you Glimmer or Clove." Katniss put down the knot she was working on, and stood up. I rolled my eyes, I couldn't stand that ugly blonde Barbie doll, Glimmer. What kind of name was Glimmer anyway? Stupid. My fist tightened around the handle of my blade.

"I'm Clove. I'm nothing like that little puke from District 1. In fact, she's the first one I'm going after in the arena, she hasn't stopped flirting with Cato since the tribute parade."

"Wow, really? I better keep her away from Peeta then." Katniss joked, I laughed with her, surprising myself. "Was there something you needed?" Katniss asked after a minute.

"I'm here to propose an alliance. I don't trust Glimmer as far as I could throw her, and Marvel is just a plain out creep."

"Yeah, actually that sounds good. I'll talk to Peeta about it."

"Wanna go now?"

"Sure, just let me clean this up." Katniss went to pick up the rope she'd been using and I looked over to Cato. He smiled at me.

'_Phase one complete.' _I mouthed to him.

'_That's my girl!'_ He mouthed back.

"You ready?" Katniss smiled and headed over to Peeta.

"Hey Kat. How's the training going?" Peeta twirled Katniss into a kiss and held her close to him, no doubt letting me know he wasn't available. As if. I turned and waved Cato over, when he got here I kissed him on the cheek and threw Peeta one of my signature glares.

"It's going great. Clove and Cato want to form an alliance with us."

"Okay, that's fine."

"So it's settled!" Cato clapped his hands together triumphantly.

"Perfect." The bell that signaled the end of training sounded and Cato put his arm around my shoulder.

"See you tomorrow." Katniss told us before leaving with Peeta. I strained to hear their conversation.

"Do you trust her Katniss?"

"I'm not sure yet, but I don't want to make an enemy of her." I smiled when I heard that. Everything was going perfectly according to plan.


	2. Phase Two: Gain Their Trust

**A/N: I would like to give a big thank you to my two reviewers: jessy0622, and Alexbelleclato. This chapter is for the two of you. Enjoy.**

**Clove POV:**

"They don't trust me Cato." I turned the knife I 'borrowed' from the training room around in my hands, admiring it's beauty.

"Are you surprised by that?" He asked, flipping through the channels on the television. I turned around fast and fired the knife into the wall, smiling wickedly.

"No. It was exactly what I knew would happen. Katniss and Peeta are _predictable_." I stalked over to him and put a hand on either armrest, trapping him in his chair. He sat up, going a little ridged and I laughed. "Relax. I wouldn't hurt you. I have no reason to." He didn't relax, instead he put his hands on my hips.

"You." He pulled me down for a kiss. "Are absolutely terrifying."

"I know." I sat in his lap. "My next challenge is going to be to gain Katniss's trust." Cato shook his head.

"And how are you going to do that?" I put on a playful pout and traced my finger down his chest.

"You love me right?"

"Of course I do. What do you need me to do."

"Can you arrange for Katniss to have a little accident in the arena?"

"Yes…"

"Perfect."

…

The next day I had to force myself not to look over at Cato and Katniss every two minutes. I couldn't miss the chance to save my new best friend from anything that might harm her. Right now Cato had Katniss in position at the table that taught us how to make snares, I shook my head, what a useless thing to know. Regardless, the table was right next to the rack of spears and Cato had assured me that my moment would come. Cato looked over to me, then away, and scratched at his nose. The signal. I dropped what I was doing and made my way over to Katniss.

"Hi Katniss!" I plastered a smile on my face. "Learning how to set up a snare? That could come in handy out there." Given we'd have something to catch for food, I fought to keep my comments down.

"I can show you how if you want." Katniss offered me a rope and I took it, praying Cato would hurry up with his distraction. We Katniss bent over her work again I looked over to him and shot him a look. He nodded in understanding and walked over to one of the boys who's name I couldn't recall.

"Get out of my way!" Cato shouted, and shoved at the boy. Katniss and a couple of other tributes stopped working and looked up.

"I… I'm sorry.' The kid looked like he was about to pee his pants, it took all I had not to burst out laughing.

"Yeah! You should be!" Cato shoved him into the weight rack, which in turn slammed into the knives, and sent the spears flying towards us.

"Katniss!" I yelled and jerked her back, this would be the one and only time I'd save her life. "Oh my God! Are you alright?" I pretended like I cared and gave her a once over. Peeta and Cato came running.

"Clove… you… you saved my life." Katniss stammered. _'Yeah no kidding dimwit.' _I thought.

"Why wouldn't I? We are friends aren't we?" Katniss's expression changed and she pulled me into a hug.

"Thank you." I awkwardly put my arms around her and patted her back.

"You're welcome." I couldn't believe the words had actually made there way out of my mouth. By the look on Cato's face I'd say he couldn't believe it either. As long as Katniss and Peeta did…

"Thank you Clove." Peeta put his hand on Katniss's shoulder and she released me.

"It was my pleasure. Just think of it as a practice run for when we're in the arena… I would do the same thing there." They nodded and turned to go to another station.

"Do you think we were wrong about her Peeta?"

"I don't know… I think we were."

I smiled. _Team Clato: 2 Team Everlark: 0_... The plan was working out perfectly.

**A/N: Okay, so I'm trying to find my 'Clove voice' let me know how the personality of the characters is working or not working. R&R please. I love reading what you guys all have to say.**


	3. Delusional

**A/N: I have no excuse… life happened. I'm updating now so please don't hate me forever!**

**Katniss POV**

"Well, I guess Clove really isn't as bad as we thought." Peeta speculated as we rode up to the penthouse in the elevator. I couldn't believe how naïve he was being.

"Peeta… you can't be serious." I shook my head. "That little devil is playing us for fools."

"What? How do you know that?" Peeta looked confused, boys could be so stupid sometimes.

"Peeta, I'm willing to bet that she and maybe even Cato are afraid of us one upping them in the arena. Clove is keeping he enemies closer. It makes sense if you think about it, it was _Cato_ who knocked the kid from eight into the spears."

"Oh my God… they're trying to get us to trust them so they can kill us off easier!"

"Yeah Peeta." I rolled my eyes. I wonder if Clove has this much trouble with Cato.

"Then why should we try to be in an alliance with them!?"

"Peeta!" I sighed and stepped out of the elevator. "You need to think like Clove. She thinks we're afraid of her, and that we trust her."

"And that's good because…"

"Clove thinks that she has the upper hand in the arena because we don't know that she's just trying to get close to us. Now that we… er… I figured out what her motives are, _we_ have the upper hand."

"Oh! So if we pretend we're all buddy-buddy with them we'll have the advantage and be able to make a move first."

"Now you're getting it." I smiled. "The most important thing is not to change the way we act around them, keep it friendly. Let's make this work Peeta."

…

**Clove POV**

"Cato! This is going better than I planned!" I plopped down on his mattress. "Katniss and Peeta don't suspect a thing _and_ I even managed to hug Katniss without maiming her!" A smile of sweet success was spreading across my face.

"I've gotta hand it to you Clove, you've really outdone yourself this time." Cato praised me.

"It was like taking candy from a baby."

"Right…" Cato looked at me funny.

"What!?" I demanded.

"What if they're playing us? I mean what if they caught on to your plan?" Blind rage was bubbling inside of me. How could I have overlooked that possibility?

"They don't suspect a thing Cato!" I spat. Katniss was a good shot with a bow but she was too madly in love with Peeta to have a brain. Peeta… well he's a cake decorator.

"Okay… they don't suspect a thing. What are you going to do with them in the arena?"

"Hmm…" I thought, "Well, I don't want to kill them right away, that would be too easy. I might keep them for a while and then kill them. Or maybe I'll tell them that the alliance is over as soon as we're down to a few tributes and hunt them down."

"You're crazy." Cato came over to me and kissed me passionately, I smiled.

"Cato, all we need to do is get a high score in the training evaluation tomorrow and we're golden."

"You really have this all figured out don't you?"

"Yes." I smiled, I couldn't wait to work my magic with the knives tomorrow. I was planning on getting the highest score out of all the tributes tomorrow. I _am_ going to be the victor… might as well give the people a show.


	4. Reality Check

Clove POV:

"So, what are you going to do in the private session?" I asked Cato as I waited for them to call my name. I was next up, and I really wanted to make a lasting impression.

"I was going to do some work with my swords. You going with knifes?"

"Of course." A slow smile spread across my face. If I used my knifes I'd get a 12/12 for sure. Cato smiled back and kissed the top of my head.

"I love you. Remember that okay?" I felt his arms tighten around my waist, and I hugged him.

"What's wrong Cato?"

"I..." I pulled away from him when he stopped talking and saw him looking around.

"You what?" I asked gently.

"I'll tell you after. Promise." I was about to object when I heard them call my name over the intercom. I gave Cato's hand a squeeze.

"Looks like that's my cue. Good luck in there."

"Good luck." Cato smiled. I turned and entered the training room and went to the rack of knifes, I picked my favorite one up, caressing it before looking up at the gamemakers.

"Clove. District 2." I hit the button on the wall lighting up my targets. I took a breath and fired my first knife, hitting the dummy dead center. I grinned and fired off three more. Getting the same results, I decided to get fancy. I dove to the ground in a tight roll and threw my next blade. I dove right and threw again and again. I hit my target dead center each time.

'_Now to try something else'_ I thought, getting cocky. I went over to the wall and picked up three spears and launched them towards the dummy one right after the other without pausing. I cringed as the first hit the floor, the second didn't hit the dummy, and the third landed in the lower arm. I blinked hard, trying to erase what I was seeing, and went over to the knives again. I threw one and missed by at least a foot.

"Thank you Clove. You may exit."

"But..." I clenched my fists and threw one last knife. At least I can say I hit this one. I shook my head and stormed out. So much for 12/12. I slammed the elevator button and got on as soon as it arrived, one of the escorts for the other districts started running down the hall with her arms full of papers, she was yelling about holding the elevator for her. I flashed her a smile and hit the 'door close' button. I got up to the second floor in no time and went straight to my room. I closed the door and punched the wall.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! You know you can't throw a spear to save your damn life!" I picked up the pillow off my bed and screamed into it, hot tears streaming down my cheeks.

…

A long time later, I heard a knock at my door. "Clove... it's me. Can I come in?" I rubbed my eyes and sat up.

"Cato?" I sniffled.

"Who else?" He opened the door and opened his arms for me. I ran into them and buried my head in his chest, I was furious with myself for blowing my one chance to prove myself to the gamemakers.

"Cato..." I sniffled.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I felt him gently rubbing my back and took a deep breath.

"I should've stuck with knives... I got cocky."

"What happened?" He asked gently, guiding us to the bed and pulling me into his lap.

"I was hitting everything dead center, so I started doing trick shots... I didn't miss one. So then I decided to show them I could handle more than just knives." I gritted my teeth and took in an aggravated breath. "I missed all three that I threw. I tried another knife but my confidence wasn't there and I missed." I shook my head.

"Clove.. it's going to be okay. I promise." He kissed me gently. I smiled.

"After they told me to leave I threw one last knife and I nailed it. I don't know if it counted though."

"Well, let's see. It's just about time for the scores to be revealed." Cato turned the television on and leaned back in my bed, letting me lay against his chest. I pouted when I saw that the pair from one both got nines.

'_Clove, from two has received a score of 10 in her training session...' _

"I got a ten! That's great!" I jumped out of the bed and smiled, there was no way anyone could beat that.

'_Cato, from two has received a score of 10 in his training session...' _

"Cato!" I tackled him into a hug and kissed him. "That's great! Ten is a really good score!"

"I know..." He sighed.

"Cato... what's bothering you? You know I won't hold it against you." I sat up and rested my hand gently on his leg.

"Clove... we're going into the arena, and you know what that means."

"Oh course. Twenty-four tributes fight to the death until there's..." My breath caught.

"One... tribute... standing..." He finished, his eyes filling with tears.

"No! Cato! I don't want to lose you! I... I can't. What do we do?" I blinked back tears, and looked at him for an answer.

"There's nothing we really can do." He shook his head sadly. Neither of us said a word after that.

'_Katniss, from 12 has received a score of 11 in her training session... Peeta, from 12 has received a score of 8 in his training session...' _

"Maybe there is..." I looked up at him. "We could always run away together."

"They'd catch us before we even left. Know that I will protect you in the arena though... even if it comes down to the two of us. I won't let you die." I shook my head.

"Cato, I'm not going to be your enemy in the arena. I love you."

"I love you too Clove... please don't forget that."


	5. Love Hurts

**Clove POV: **

The next morning I got up after everyone else did. My escort had to wake me up, and I was rushing around all through breakfast. Cato was already gone, so I had nobody to cheer me up. Today was the day all the tributes were going to be placed in the arena. We were supposed to take off at 10:00 sharp, and here I was eating a bowl of oatmeal at 9:54. My escort looked like she wanted to kill me, but I didn't really care.

"Alright, Clove, you're done." She took the bowl from me and dumped it in the sink. "It's time to go!" I felt her grab my elbow as she led me out the door.

"What's the rush? Are you happy that people are going to die?" I spat at her. I was starting to see why my allies didn't like the Capitol as much as I originally did. This place was actually excited to see 23 of us die. She got me to the launch pad just as the clock ticked 10:01

"Pushing your luck aren't you?" One of the flight attendants asked as we reached the hovercraft.

"I'm here now." I shook my head and walked onto the hovercraft, I got stuck sitting next to Glimmer. I groaned. _Could my life be any worse right now?_

"Give me your arm." A male flight attendant told me, not waiting to shove a thick metal rod into my arm and injecting something.

"Ow! What is that!?" I yelled, suppressing the urge to punch this guy right in the face.

"It's a tracker. Now the Gamemakers will know where you are in the arena at all times." He smiled coldly and walked away. He's lucky I was strapped in or I would've destroyed him.

…

When we landed we were immediately separated and taken to get dressed. I threw my jacket on and got in my tube before my stylist could say a word. I was getting nervous. I could be dead in the next two minutes. I didn't know for sure that I would live to see the end of the day. I was quiet while my platform rose and I concentrated on plastering a scowl on my face. I passed the next 60 seconds thinking of what type of blade would inflict the most pain in Glimmer. I could almost hear her screaming at me to stop.

"Clove! Clove!" Cato was in my face screaming, I blinked hard and he dragged me to the mouth of the Cornucopia. "Jeez! You can't just stand there! What were you thinking about!?" I watched as he took a sword and took a practice swing.

"I... I was just thinking about ways to kill in here." I tried.

"Well, there are more ways than you can think of..." He handed me my favorite knife from training.

"I know..." I frowned. What was wrong with me? Where had my ruthless need to be the best gone? I was turning into a weakling at the wrong time.

"Clove!" Cato pushed me and slashed at another tribute, killing them on the spot. "Watch what you're doing! That's the second time I've had to save your life today!" He shook his head, mad at me, and turned back to the weapons. I sighed and grabbed the bow for Katniss. I changed my mind... I think I might actually need her help now. She wasn't so bad right?

"Cato? I... I'm sorry that you had to save me... twice already." I tried to apologize, but before this apologies hadn't really been my thing.

"Clove. Honey, I really need you to be quiet right now and let me gather supplies. That way I have something to save your life with later on. Okay?" He turned around, looking at me like I was a little kid who'd just done something very, very wrong. Clearly his speech about us not being enemies in the arena was all a lie.

"I'm sorry..." I tried again.

"That's great, but sorry isn't going to save you." He shook his head and turned back to the weapons. I bit my lip, holding back tears. I couldn't believe how much had changed in such a short amount of time. I held the bow and arrows tight in one hand and grabbed a backpack, stuffing it with knives and a few other supplies with my other hand. Then I turned and ran away from Cato, trying to find Katniss before anyone killed me.

…

**Cato POV:**

I frowned when I turned and saw the bow and arrow missing, along with a bunch of other knives. I felt a little bad betraying Clove, but I had to. For a little while at least. The cannons started going off and I turned to look at the mess the other Career Tributes had left behind in the bloodbath. I pursed my lips. Were any of those cannons for Clove?

"Great show Cato!" Glimmer patted me on the back and offered me an apple.

"Well who needs Clove anyway? She's bossy and distracting." My heart ached, it really hurt to talk about Clove this way. I knew that this would be my plan since the first day of training. There was no way that I could keep Clove alive if I stuck with 12. If I pretended to be with the Careers for long enough, I could pick them off and get back to Clove.

"That's the spirit!" She laughed and kissed me on the cheek. I cringed internally, I knew how my Clove felt about this girl. Regardless, if it was keeping her safe, that was all that mattered. I walked with Glimmer and met up with the other Careers. They were all busy setting up the supplies so I started on making a shelter. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep until I saw that Clove's face wasn't in the sky.


	6. No Matter What

**Clove POV: **

I was glad that Cato's face wasn't in the sky tonight... I couldn't take losing him in more than one way in less than 24 hours. I had to remember that he was only playing me, I was about as safe as the no names from the outlying districts now. I abandoned the Careers and I hadn't found Katniss or Peeta yet... I had to be careful. I frowned at the darkness in front of me,_ 'what was going to happen to me' _I wondered. I couldn't worry about it now though. I needed sleep.

…

I woke to the sound of leaves rustling the next morning, it kept getting louder and louder until I saw a tribute run past me. I pulled out my knife and threw it, hoping I would hit my target. I did, but that was about all I saw before the Careers came rushing in. I shrank back into the bushes I'd slept in, praying they wouldn't find me. How pathetic had I become.

"I got it." The sound of Cato's voice made my eyes fill with tears. "Go check by the river, see if she left tracks."

"You got it Cato." Glimmer chirped. I held my breath as the others went off to fulfill Cato's orders, trying not to make a sound. I watched silently as Cato bent over the body and pulled the knife out, searching for supplies as he did. I closed my eyes fighting tears as I heard him heading in the directions the others had gone. When I opened my eyes again I found myself staring at his boots. Slowly, I looked up to face him. He pulled the knife out of his pocket and for a split second I thought he was going to kill me, but instead he held it out for me to take.

"Why?" I whispered. His eyes shone as he looked down at me, fighting tears. He looked over his shoulder and knelt beside me.

"Clove... I meant what I said. I know you don't think so right now, but I'm not your enemy in this arena. I will not hurt you." He pulled me close to him, holding me. "I love you. I only tricked you so I could keep you safe."

"Cato..." I pulled away to look at his face, he wiped my tears away.

"Clove, you can't give up. You're the strongest girl I know. You can do this."

"Why can't we just stay together?" I cried, burying my head in his chest.

"We can't stay together because of Glimmer. Her number one plan is to find you and Katniss, and kill you both. I won't let you die."

"But I don't understand. Why can't you just kill her now?"

"I need to wait for the perfect moment. If I kill her too soon, the Careers will kill me and then I won't be able to protect you."

"I love you Cato..." I mumbled into his chest. I couldn't believe I'd been so stupid yesterday... I should've known that Cato wouldn't hurt me.

"I love you too Clove." He tilted my chin up and kissed me gently. Soon after he broke off the kiss we heard leaves rustling in the distance.

"Cato!" I panicked, I didn't want to put him in danger, not when he was already risking so much for me.

"Clove... it's okay." His eyes locked with mine, forcing me to focus. "Your job is to stay alive. I want you to try to find Katniss and Peeta... you'll be safer in a group. No matter what happens next, I want you to know that I love you. I will never stop loving you. I'll come find you when it's safe." He blinked and looked away, getting up and going to the body.

"Did you find anything on her?" Glimmer asked, stepping into the clearing. I shrank back into the foliage, trying not to make a sound.

"Not a thing." Cato shook his head.

"We didn't find any signs of stupid little Clove girl either." Glimmer took a few steps towards Cato and hugged him close to her. "You would tell me if you found her wouldn't you Cato?" she gave him the puppy face and I felt my hand tighten around my blade, drawing blood.

"Of course I would. What is she to me now?"

"Good boy." Glimmer pulled him down and kissed him. It took all I had not to get up and dismember her right then, but I could see in Cato's eyes that the only kissing that he was interested in was the kind that included my lips on his. Cato pulled away, keeping her at arms length.

"We should go search for other tributes. Come on."

"Okay." Glimmer smiled and took his hand, pulling him with her towards the river. I let out the breath I'd been holding and wiped the hot tears off my face. I had a new plan, and I needed to find Katniss. The sooner Glimmer was stone-cold, dead, the better.


	7. The Alliance Expands

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait for this update. I was on vacation and my great-grandmother just passed away so I needed to be with my family. Enjoy and please R&R.**

**Clove POV: **

I started in the direction opposite Cato and Glimmer with every intention of looking for Katniss and Peeta. I looked for about half the day before I started thinking about the way that little priss kissed Cato. She wanted him to kill me so she could have him all to herself. What would happen if I were killed out here? Would Cato end up with Glimmer? I couldn't leave that to chance, I had to take matters into my own hands. I turned myself around and made a new plan... I would find Glimmer and kill her, only I would make sure she saw me and Cato kissing before I finish her off.

…

Hours later I found myself walking deeper into the woods than last time. I was getting tired, so I stopped and took out some dried fruit to eat. I made it almost all the way through my meal before I heard noises from my left side.

"Who's there?" I demanded, pulling out my knife.

"Clove?" A deep voice called out. "Is that you?

"Peeta?" I stood and took a step towards the shadows.

"Yeah." He came out of the trees holding his hands up in surrender.

"Where's Katniss? I've been looking for you guys all morning." I shook my head. Of course now that I'd changed my plans I stumbled across my allies.

"Kat's catching dinner." Peeta smiled slightly and I rolled my eyes.

"Kat?" I smirked at Peeta's blush and offered him a piece of my dried fruit. He took it.

"So where are you heading?"

"I'm going to kill Glimmer. I'm tired of her trying to steal my man." I stroked the blade of my knife and looked up at him. He looked at me with the same stupid expression I was used to seeing. "Wouldn't you kill the guy trying to take Katniss from you?"

"Well, when you put it that way.."

"Peeta?!" Katniss shouted from the woods.

"Over here Katniss." I yelled back. Peeta and I waited in silence until she found us.

"Hey Clove." I watched her take her spot next to Peeta, my hand tightened around my blade as I watched him lean down and kiss her.

"I need you to help me kill Glimmer."

"What?" Katniss pulled away from Peeta's kiss sooner than she wanted too and looked at me. "Why do you need my help?"

"Because she wants to kill me."

"She wants to kill Katniss too! No!" Peeta stood.

"Peeta, you and Katniss are my allies, I'm not trying to get you killed."

"Peeta... it would be a good thing to get rid of Glimmer." Katniss turned to me. "Where is Cato?" I gritted my teeth.

"He's with the careers... playing them so that he can protect me better." I frowned and dropped my gaze.

"Oh."

"That's good." Peeta tried.

"No it isn't." I spat. "I miss him."

"So what's the plan Clove?" Katniss asked. I grinned, finally something would work out for me.

…

The next morning Peeta, Katniss, and I were headed towards the Career camp. I was almost giddy with the knowledge I was going to kill off the stupid blonde girl.

"How much farther?" Katniss asked after we'd been walking for about two hours. I turned to her.

"About another fifteen minutes."

"Okay." She pulled her bow and gripped an arrow in her hand tightly.

"Watch out!" A voice yelled from behind us. I turned and saw a male tribute sprinting towards us. Before I had time to react Katniss took him out with her arrow. The sound of the cannon came quickly.

"Pull another! I heard someone!" Peeta shouted to her, pulling a sword out for himself. I listened for movement, but I didn't hear a sound.

"You were probably just imagining it." I told Peeta. I'd heard the voice too, but I was willing to bet it wasn't going to kill us if it had told us to watch out for another tribute trying to end us. Glimmer's death was more important to me.

"No. I heard it too." Katniss turned and took a few steps back in the direction we'd come from. I rolled my eyes.

"Katniss! The plan?"

"I know. Just a second." She told me, disappearing behind a tree. I shook my head and walked over to her.

"What's the hold up?!" I demanded. As soon as I did, the smallest tribute... Ruth or something like that... hesitantly came out of the shadows. I raised my knife but Katniss stopped me.

"I want her in our alliance. She saved our lives."

"I think she's right Clove. Rue would make a nice addition to our team."

"You've got to be kidding me." By the look on their faces I'd have to guess they were being serious. I shook my head. "Keep up or be left behind." I told the girl before turning and heading towards the Careers. Maybe I could figure out a way to use her as bait to attract some of the tributes. With five of us we might even be able to end the entire alliance they had going.

"I'll keep up. Where are we going?"

"To take down the Careers."


End file.
